The tycoon behind the bid to buy Preston bus station has offered to pay profits to the city’s council, the Evening Post understands.
The city’s council has asked Simon Rigby to clarify his final offer for the building which will be set against a proposal to demolish it with Lancashire County Council replacing it with a new, smaller terminal on the same site.
It is understood he has offered to pay any trading profit from the building over the next decade to the city council and should he sell all or part of the building within the next 20 years, the profit will be paid to the council.
A City Centre Regeneration Options Report drawn up by council’s officers is due to be published by the end of the week and is expected to recommend demolition.
The ruling Labour group will meet next Tuesday to discuss the proposals and vote on which route to take before a decision is taken by the cabinet at its meeting next Thursday.
The Evening Post understands the council has asked the Rigby camp to clarify a number of points around its offer which is believed to set out a ten-year vision.
It would see the main bus station concourse developed to include units for retail and leisure businesses with the 1,100-space car park retained above it.
The demolition route, backed by the cabinet in December before Mr Rigby’s bid, would see the county council build a new, smaller bus station on the site of the existing building.
There would also be a surface car park built on the site which would remain in the city council’s ownership, allowing it to continue to generate cash from motorists parking there.
It may even see the county council offer to pay part of the £2m cost of demolishing the bus station.
A spokesman for Preston Council confirmed a decision will be taken by the cabinet next Thursday, guided by a City Centre Regeneration Options Report, which is being written by officers at the council.
It will include the details clarified by the Rigby camp at the end of last week.
A spokesman for Mr Rigby said the details of his bid were commercially confidential and could not be revealed.
Council leader Peter Rankin said the Labour group had discussed the proposals at recent meetings and given the cabinet “a clear steer” as to its view on the future of the building.
He confirmed the group would meet early next week to discuss the final offer ahead of next Thursday’s cabinet.
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